We love our Facebook fans and so does Dionna of Code Name: Mama. To celebrate the amazing communities we have both built, we have joined forces with her - and a host of other natural-minded companies and WAHMs - to bring you a Fabulous Giveaway Blitz worth over $550! You can enter to win one of more than 20 fabulous prizes, both from our company and from the other totally terrific sponsors!
Two Easy Ways to Enter
Entering is easy via the Rafflecopter widget at the bottom of this post. You get entries for liking the pages of each company featured here. Be sure to like *all* of the pages for 50 bonus entries!
Check in at Code Name: Mama's Facebook page every day. In the days and weeks to come, she'll be sharing fun questions and prompts related to each of the companies. Everyone who comments on the Giveaway Blitz Facebook threads will get an extra entry (one extra entry per thread).
Hybrid Rasta Mama is giving away 5 copies of her e-book, Coconut Oil For Your Skin – Nourishing Your Body From the Outside In (ARV $6.95 x 5 = $34.75).
Brittany from Mama's Felt Cafe is giving away a Waldorf-inspired felt fairy tea time playset (ARV $35).
Laura at Thirty One Gifts is giving away a thermal lunch tote with personalization (ARV $25).
Sparkle Stories is giving away a year's subscription (four one hour stories) of their Sparkle Car Series (ARV $24).
Pat from Heal Thyself is giving away one 12 month membership to the Heal Thyself! site (ARV $20).
Terri from Monkey Baby Naturals is giving away a bottle of Baby Goo (an organic, herbal diaper rash/skin irritation salve), and a Lavender & Tea Tree Deodorant (ARV $21.48).
Amy from Presence Parenting is giving away three 45 minute Nurturing Presence sessions (ARV $52.50 x 3 = $157.50).
Not to come across as ungrateful, but have you ever opened a gift from someone and wondered WTHeck? Yup, me too. Was it a re-gift? Were they drunk when they bought it? Did they mix up the tags? I hope you enjoy a few laughs as the Snugabell Team recounts their BEST and WORST Christmas gifts of all time...
BEST: My parents are always so generous, it is difficult to pick out one gift. But every year, my dad goes clothes shopping for me. He goes into Ann Taylor, tells the sales girl my size, and has her pick out something really nice that I would normally find too expensive to buy for myself. I always enjoy that gift because he chooses it himself without my mom's help.
WORST: When I lived in Florida I was invited to ornament exchange parties. No matter what, for years, I always ended up with the ugliest, cheapest ornament that nobody wanted to steal away and I always felt bad for being disappointed by it! I dreaded those parties. :)
BEST: I don’t have a personal best present, trunk organizer aside (keep reading). All my presents have been wonderful and I could never choose one over another.
WORST: The gift and the circumstances involved make this story - Cleaning house one day I found, under my bed (on his side), a trunk organizer. I thought it was strange, maybe hubby was gifting it to himself? Didn’t say anything about it and then Christmas morning much to my dismay I found out the lovely organizer was my ‘special’ present. To say I was disappointed and a little peeved is putting it mildly. I went on about it all day until my Mom told me stop. "You sound like a fish wife!" she said. Shish, it’s all about the differences between the sexes – hubby would have loved it as a gift. ☺
BEST: Finding out I was pregnant with my daughter Ava.
WORST: I'd feel like an ingrate if I answered that... ;-) Honestly, nothing comes to mind. (So you're taking the Fifth on that one Amy? Uh huh...)
Wendy - Founding Diva
BEST: Last year Mike and the girls surprised me with a ring. It had a purple center stone (one of my favourite colours) with four "diamonds" around it in a pretty setting. It wasn't worth much - just faux stones and sterling silver, but I LOVED it because the girls picked it out for me AND Mike didn't spoil the surprise (he can't keep a secret if his life depended on it!).
WORST: Before I met my husband, I dated a man that bought me a clutch kit for my car. Yes, he was in the doghouse for that little lapse in judgement.
I was just informed by Robyn that I don't have a "Meet the Snugabell Team" post and should do one. What do you think? Hmm...
Regardless, we would *love* to hear all about your BEST and WORST Christmas gifts in the comments below. Share the love (and the misery)!
I don't know about you, but my brain goes a gazillion miles an hour while doing two particular things - showering and driving (by myself); this is of course as opposed to *normal* when it goes only a million miles an hour. ;-) It isn't often that I'm alone outside of working, so in these two situations, the ideas flow FAST - so much so that I'm thinking of picking up some of those bathtub crayons so I can write my ideas down on the shower wall. I already have the car scenario taken care of - a pad of paper that I scribble ideas down on at the 'next red light'.
The other day (in the shower) I was thinking about my youngest Michaela and the fact that she will soon be five (insert cliché phrase about how fast they grow up here). Then I remembered the interview that I did with my elder daughter Antonia when she was about the same age and made a mental note to sit down with Michaela (see, need the crayons!) and do the same.
I was originally inspired by Annie's post over at PhD in Parenting in which she invited us to "interview" our child about their mother and share the responses. Get ready for some "awww's" and some chuckles. Here we go...
What are mothers for?
For hugging.
How are mothers made?
You put them underground and make them grow.
What ingredients are mothers made of?
First you go to the hospital and when you grow up a bit you'll be a kid and then you grow more and more and then you're a mommy (or daddy).
Why am I your mommy instead of another woman being your mommy?
Because I was in your tummy.
What kind of little girl was I?
A little kid.
What did I need to know about Daddy before I married him?
Because you got in love.
Why did I choose Daddy to marry?
Because he had a big fat beard and long hair.
Who's the boss at our house?
Daddy and you.
What's the difference between mommies and daddies?
One has different hair and one speaks different.
What do I do in my spare time?
You make us dinner.
What would it take to make me perfect?
Because you are so pretty and I like you and I love you so much.
If you could change one thing about me, what would it be?
Nothing.
It's nice to think that Michaela thinks I'm perfect the way I am - that makes one of us!
Having now done this exercise with both my girls, what stood out for me most was that Antonia's answers flowed quite easily whereas Michaela said, "I don't know" and "Is that right?" quite a few times - I honestly didn't think we would get through all the questions. This rings true to form for their little personalities - not to "label" them per se - however Antonia tends to be more academic and artistic while Michaela is more physical (generally). It is so interesting to witness their characters developing and watch them morph into little individuals!
I welcome you to join in the fun - ask your son or daughter the same list of questions and link back to this post. You can put the url of your post in the comments.
So, the other day my friend and colleague, Claire Reid of Claire Reid Photography, sent me this video - a vignette if you will - of all the family sessions we've had with her over the last few years.
I had to get out the Kleenex.
And so did my husband Mike.
Besides our family photo sessions, Claire also does all the photography for Snugabell and PumpEase. Headshots too. She is amazingly talented. When I tell her my vision for a shoot, she is always excited and always bubbling over with harmonious ideas to help bring my vision to life. And when we're in studio, the energy is palpable; we really just connect. (And if you were standing outside the door, you would hear lots of oohs and aaahs and excited giggles.) She is also exceedingly patient with my ahem... attention to detail.
When she is shooting us as a family - something we have done with Claire every year since Michaela, my youngest, was 18 months old or so - she can get the most amazing shots out of the girls. Even an hour into it when they are getting cranky/tired/bored/cold.
Claire is now offering these unique keepsake videos to her customers. These video journals offer a unique way to immortalize a special time in your life, capturing your style and story as only Claire can....
My only regret is that I hadn't met Claire yet when the girls were teeny tiny. :-( I have pictures, but they are of the generic department store type quality. Not awful, but not great either.
If you're in the lower mainland of British Columbia, look Claire up. You won't regret it. She is blogging now too and doing a bang-up job!
If you're out of town, do you have a favourite photographer that you keep returning to, to capture for all posterity the growth of your family? Go dig out all those photos and look at how much they've grown. Remember the Kleenex. And please share below.
"A woman is like a tea bag – you can't tell how strong she is until you put her in hot water." ~ Eleanor Roosevelt
In March of 1911 men and women alike gathered around to mark the very first International Working Women’s Day. It was such a popular celebration that it was soon expanded to a week and by the 1980's women were being celebrated all month long and all over the world.
There are many female pioneers throughout history: Rosa Parks, Amelia Earhart, Mother Teresa (just to name a very, very few) and I am always astounded by the strength and determination of women when faced with adversity. So let's celebrate women, shall we?
Tell us about a woman (or women) who has (have) rocked the world in your eyes – someone who has made a difference in the lives around her. It doesn't always take a major event to change the world we live in; sometimes it only takes a few ripples to reach an entire pond. Who is YOUR hero? Please tell us below.
"A woman is like a tea bag – you can't tell how strong she is until you put her in hot water." ~ Eleanor Roosevelt
